The animal has strongly reduced eyes that lack pigment, and is thought to be blind. The "hairy" pincers contain filamentousbacteria, which the creature may use to detoxify poisonous minerals from the water emitted by the hydrothermal vents where it lives. This process is known as chemosynthesis. Alternatively, it may feed on bacteria, although it is generally thought to be a carnivore.[2]

Macpherson et al. named the genus Kiwa after "the goddess of the shellfish in the Polynesian mythology", although Kiwa is a male guardian of the sea in Māori mythology.[6]Hirsuta means "hairy" in Latin.